The High Court has acquitted former Satkhira BNP lawmaker Habibul Islam Habib and 43 other accused in cases filed under the Arms Act and the Special Powers Act over the August 30, 2002, attack on the motorcade of then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina.
A High Court bench comprising Justice Muhammad Mahbub Ul Islam and Justice Mubina Asaf delivered the verdict on Wednesday. The court overturned the previous ruling, in which Habibul Islam Habib had been sentenced to life imprisonment.
Advocate Aminul Islam represented the accused, while Deputy Attorney General Mojibur Rahman appeared for the state.
Earlier, in another case filed over the same incident, a separate High Court bench—led by Justice Mohammad Ali and Justice Sheikh Tahsin Ali—had also acquitted Habibul Islam Habib of a 10-year prison sentence.
According to case details, on August 30, 2002, Sheikh Hasina, then leader of the opposition, visited the wife of a freedom fighter who had been raped at Satkhira Sadar Hospital in Chandanpur Union of Kalaroa Upazila.
While returning to Jessore by road, her motorcade came under attack in front of the BNP office in Kalaroa Upazila. Shots were fired at her vehicle, explosives were detonated, and vehicles in the convoy were vandalised.
Following the incident, three separate cases were filed on charges of attempted murder, use of explosives, and illegal possession of arms.
